2014-04-02 21:22:40
Afra Anjum
I was born and brought up in Dhaka, so I never had the chance to climb big trees and eat fresh fruits. My parents, on the other hand, were pretty good at it during their childhood. I still hear my father telling me stories of how he would climb the highest branch of the mango tree to get the best mango, and ate it right there. I always wanted to try it whenever I went to villages, but the scenarios have changed now. As pesticides are sprayed on the trees directly now, ingestion of fruits in those trees may have acute effects and might even lead to death. The deaths of 14 children on June 2012, aged two to ten years in Dinajpur and Thakurgaon districts, who had ‘poisoned lychees’ straight from the trees (sprayed with pesticides), still shake us. In Bangladesh, pesticide poisoning-related deaths represented 8% of all hospital deaths for people aged 15-49 years in 2009 (source-icddr,b). We are ingesting pesticides 40 times what an average American does due to indiscriminate and unregulated use of pesticide. Harmful fungicides are used to ripen fruits and rushed to market for a quick buck; vegetables are dipped in ‘magic poison’ to appear fresh for a longer period and sustain natural degradation. Ladyfingers, cabbage, tomatoes are poisoned to an utmost. Having those opens a doorway for consumers towards cancer, genetic defect, impotency, slow poisoning, miscarriages and even death. Since we are ingesting them in small amounts, but regularly (chronic exposure), the damage is slow but inevitable. In this article, I am going to point out the unremitting effect of pesticides, how they are affecting the environment and how we could help ourselves to come out of this.
Herbicide, insecticide, rodenticide, disinfectant (antimicrobial), sanitizer, are a few examples of pesticides. These can come into contact with our body through ingestion, inhalation, Ocular– (through the eyes), or Dermal. Once they have come into contact with our body, they can cause three types of harmful effects: acute (typically accompanied by a rapid onset of heavy mortality), delayed (does not appear immediately, within 24 hours), and allergic. Acute cases are low, and we are more concerned about the chronic effects of the pesticides. In recent years, health researchers have described reproductive, neurological effects and certain cancers in association with pesticide exposures.
Presently miscarriages, impotence and children born with deformities and/or disorders have taken a toll in our lives. Pesticides have been directly linked to these are herbicides, fungicides for home and garden use. In adults, low sperm counts, impotence and infertility have increased massively. A common joke shared in the scientific community referring to men, ‘You are half the man your grandfather was’ meaning sperm count, sperm quality in men nowadays have decreased to a great extent compared to the old times and this has been leading to sterility. The most susceptible to pesticide exposure are developing babies. The fetus is not protected from pesticides in the womb as pesticides can cross the placenta. Researchers investigated the umbilical cord for levels of pesticides while studying impacts on the fetus after changing pesticide application methods for public vector control programs. Shocking results were found, few of the components are mentioned in the chart below. The infant’s blood-brain barrier is not developed until about 6 months of age, so fat-soluble pesticides could more easily cross the barrier that protects adults, ensuing in brain damage, lowering of I.Q. Unfortunately, the infant has double jeopardy, because the infant also gets all the concentrated fat-soluble toxins, including pesticides from the breast milk. Every breastfeeding woman transferred pesticides and other toxic substances to the child. Fetal exposed to pesticides leads to adult disease.
Chemical and pollutants detected in Human Umbilical cord blood
Exposures to Lawn-care herbicides, termite fumigants, pyrethroid insecticides, organophosphates insecticides in adults have been reported to cause an approximately fourfold amplified risk of early-onset of Parkinson’s disease. Chiefly shortened attention span and reduced coordination have been accounted in adults over-exposed to organophosphate pesticides and permanent numbness in the extremities (high exposures to OP insecticides).
“There were three funerals in a row here in this neighbourhood for the children that died of cancer. There was a day when some of the children got together [across from] our house. They were playing with the Barbies. They were picking flowers. . . And they were burying the Barbie. I said ‘What are you kids doing?’ Cause they were burying the Barbie and they were crying and crying and crying . . . They said that Barbie died of cancer. It had cancer in the leg and it died. . . . I was always wondering ‘Is my daughter going to be next after having her so ill?’. . . When I went to the room, she was having another seizure and she kept saying, ‘My dollies are dying of cancer mom, please help me, please help me.'”
There is a correlation between parental or infant exposures to pesticides and childhood brain tumours, leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, sarcoma, and Wilm’s tumour. In many of the reports, children’s increased cancer risks were higher than the risks of adults. Asthma, autism, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADD and ADHD), childhood brain cancer and acute lymphocytic leukaemia have all increased over the past 30 years.
Pesticides, due to overuse, remain in the environment, in the ground and in our waterways long after the application is stopped. Not to mention, almost 100 years of chemicals placed on fields across the world, causing persistent pollution! Pesticides run off to the ground and cause an imbalance in the soil biodiversity. If they enter the water bodies, they harm or kill the aquatic organisms. Pesticide contamination of groundwater is a subject of national importance because groundwater is used for drinking by a large portion of the population. Pesticides can reach water-bearing aquifers (containing groundwater) and contaminate them, only later to be consumed by people.
Certainly, there are alternatives available for pesticides such as pheromones and microbial pesticides, bio-pesticides, insect breeding and Genetic Engineering. These methods are safer than traditional chemical pesticides. But these methods are not cheaper as compared to chemical pesticides. Also, pesticide use needs to be regulated and supervised. Farmers need to be trained on the use of pesticides, the risks of using them and the other costs due to excessive use. There should be strict laws against overuse, the penalty against any harm done, and the food ministry must ensure the safety of these foods. Laws can be enacted to ensure compensation for any loss or damage done to the people and their health due to excessive use of pesticides.
In the past years, overuse of formalin caused massive protests which forced the government to take stern actions. It’s high time to raise our voice, create awareness in mass level against overuse of pesticide, an ongoing threat to our nation’s health and economy. Pesticides are persistent, so it is difficult to clean up once it enters the environment, thus it has to be stopped. We need to grab the attention of the policymakers to take direct actions on pesticide overuse, pass strict laws against it so that we can help ourselves secure a better future, a future we deserve. Having safe food is our basic right. Anthelme Brillat Savarin once said ‘Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.’ What would your answer be? This is the time to take pesticides off your menu, an ingredient you never ordered! Stay safe.
